Sawt Falasteen - India-Pakistan blockbuster brings cricket fever to Japan baseball field

The neighbours only meet in international tournaments because of long-running political tensions and matches between them typically attract television audiences of hundreds of millions back home.

The gold-medal encounter in a suburban park in Nagoya was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Indians and Pakistanis living in Japan.

They lined up hours before the game to get into the cosy 2,500-capacity purpose-built Korogi Athletic Park Stadium.

"I think this is never going to happen again, India against Pakistan in Japan," long-time Nagoya resident Umer Dar, draped in a Pakistan flag, told AFP.

"I'm crazy about cricket but I never have the opportunity to watch it live because I've lived here for 26 years."

The last time India and Pakistan collided was at the T20 World Cup in February, where they played in front of a sell-out 35,000 crowd in Sri Lanka.

The Asian Games setting was significantly more modest, with trees and a baseball pitcher's mound just beyond the boundary.

The atmosphere was as passionate as ever though, with fans waving flags and cheering every ball from the temporary stands.

"We bought tickets three months back when they started selling them," said Tokyo resident and India supporter Mohammed Kashim Raja.

"At the time it was easy but it became really difficult for others to get them.

"We heard that many people were selling them for high prices."

Cricket is a niche sport in Japan and neutrals at the final appeared to be virtually non-existent.

- 'Always crazy' -

There was more of a casual crowd at the bronze-medal match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh earlier, on a warm and sunny day.

Teachers Hiromi Niwa and Miki Kaede, both from nearby Gifu, said they knew nothing about cricket and had bought tickets out of curiosity.

After reading a free leaflet explaining the rules and watching some of the action, Kaede said it had been a "really fun" experience.

She was disappointed that their tickets did not get them into the final.

"We didn't realise that India against Pakistan was such a big deal until we actually searched for it," she said.

Cricket has a growing presence in Japan and the sport got a huge boost when India played their first-ever T20 international against Japan last week.

The historic match, celebrating 75 years of diplomatic relations, took place at Japan's modest Sano International Cricket Ground outside Tokyo.

It was Japan's first T20 game against a full-member nation, and they gave India a huge fright before losing by two runs in a rain-shortened match.

Kushal Gowda, an Indian fan living in Tokyo, said Japanese people were "trying to understand" cricket.

"We were trying to explain to our colleagues in our office and they were curious and keen to know what it was about," he said.

"They kind of compared it with baseball."

The crowd for the Asian Games final was overwhelmingly supporting India, with only a few Pakistan flags and shirts dotted around the ground.

A cheer went up when the gates opened to let fans in, and the party continued when the game began under clear skies.

"Even if it's in Japan, the craze of India versus Pakistan is always there," said Tokyo-based India fan Afroz Khan.

"Anywhere they play in the world, it's always crazy."

W.Mansour--SF-PST